Guha, Atulan

The GDP growth structure of India is dominated by the growth in service sector. The Baumolian theories argue that the higher productivity in services is primary mover behind this growth pattern. On the other hand, Kaldorian theories argue that service …More ›

Andong Zhu

There has been growing concern over the sustainability of China’ s economic growth. The Chinese economy is excessively dependent on investment and exports, a pattern that has become increasingly unsustainable. The excessive dependence on investment and exports results from insufficient …More ›

Motiram, Sripad and Singh, Ashish

Using data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2005, we examine intergenerational occupational mobility in India, an issue on which very few systematic and rigorous studies exist. We group individuals into classes and document patterns of mobility at the …More ›

Basile, Elisabetta

The paper explores the impact of caste on production relations in contemporary India. Caste is analysed by means of conceptual categories borrowed from Gramsci’s theory of hegemony. Partially overcoming the conventional Marxist view of caste as a ‘false consciousness’, caste …More ›

Kiran Kumar Kakarlapudi

The policy reforms in India initiated in the early 1990s have brought phenomenal changes in the economy’s growth and development process. The economy during this period has experienced high growth rates on the one hand and increased inequalities on the …More ›

Jayadev, Arjun

This paper is a chapter from the author’s PHD thesis written in 2005. It examines the history of financial reforms in India up to 2005 and the consequences for the distribution of income and wealth. A short appendix provides a …More ›

Rahul De and Vamsi Vakulabharanam

The Indian economy witnessed four qualitatively different regimes of capitalist growth and distribution since independence. The first two regimes in the period – 1951-1980 – operated under the hegemony of the Indian state, the third one under the mixed hegemony …More ›

Wang Qianyi, Cheong Kee Cheok, Zarinah Binti Yusof

China’s growth, after the early years, has been built on industrial development in a model of unbalanced growth. This has left the rural areas trailing urban areas in development. Rural residents earn less than urban residents, have inferior physical infrastructure, …More ›

Molero-Simarro, Ricardo

Most analyses explain the increase in China’s overall inequality during the reform period principally by means of the expansion of urban-rural income gap. This paper tries to shed light on a more complex relationship that appears to exist between primary …More ›

Thakur, Gogol Mitra

In a demand-side growth model we show that a developing economy may experi- ence a steady positive equilibrium growth rate of investment and profit as long as – investment in the economy is responsive to the aspirations of the richer …More ›

Lee, Kang-Kook

This paper examines the rise in income inequality after the 1997 financial crisis and neoliberal economic restructuring in Korea. It argues that the egalitarian growth model in the past was over in Korea as inequality in income and assets became …More ›

Lee, Hwok-Aun

This paper explores inequality in Malaysia, which poses a puzzle in recent years. While official figures indicate declining household income inequality, public discourse generally perceives persistently high or rising inequality. Assembling data from a range of sources, I obtain evidence …More ›

Xue, Jinjun

In 1980, the father of China’s Reform and Opening-up, Deng Xiaoping, put forward the idea that “China should ‘double its national income’” after referencing Japan’s “National Income Doubling Plan”. Since then, the income of Chinese citizens has doubled, or even …More ›

Welcome to all interested in participating in the dialogue about Inequalities in Asia. Only when papers depart too much from normal standards of conference papers have we rejected them. Since we believe that values are necessarily involved in all papers, no paper has been rejected for ideological or political reasons. In the present situation, characterized by multifaceted and complex threats to humankind, we need an open, pluralistic debate in line with normal ideas of democracy. Participation in the discussion is not limited to the authors of posted papers and we hope that all interested WEA members will contribute to the dialogue. We look forward to a constructive dialogue.

Practical details

All papers are available for readers on this website. Commentators can write on specific papers or on several papers together. They can also make general comments on the conference. Comments on several papers, the themes discussed and/or on general issues can be posted on the “General Comments” page. If you are not a WEA member, please feel invited to join us by going to the WEA website to register (no fee required):http://www.worldeconomicsassociation.org/membership.

According to rules of fruitful dialogue, we expect authors to respond to the comments on their papers as well as on related general remarks.

Introduction

It is generally recognized that inequalities of various kinds have been exacerbated during the period of globalization. This is true of global/regional inequalities as well as within-country disparities, except in a few countries where very conscious policies have been taken to reverse this. Concerns with growing inequality extend well beyond issues of justice and fairness, since the degree of economic inequality also affects social cohesion and political instability, and can also have negative implications for economic growth and sustainability. This conference will focus on various aspects of inequality in South, Southeast and East Asia from the broader perspective of examining their interlinkages with other economic, social and political processes. This region is known to have been among the most dynamic in terms of income growth as well as structural change, and the evidence of increasing inequalities is also marked in several major countries of the region.